UW-Madison ranked highly by Washington Monthly

For News Media

An aerial view of the UW–Madison campus, with Bascom Hall in the center. Photo: Bryce Richter

The University of Wisconsin–Madison has once again been named one of the top 30 universities in the country by Washington Monthly magazine, ranking 23rd overall.

The ranking appears in Washington Monthly’s annual College Guide and Rankings and is based on three criteria: research, social mobility, and community and national service.

UW–Madison ranked fifth in research expenditures, third in the number of science and engineering PhDs awarded, 26th in the number of faculty who are members of the National Academies relative to the number of full-time faculty, and 18th in the number of faculty receiving prestigious awards relative to the number of full-time faculty.

UW-Madison was also recognized in a list of the 80 best colleges for student voting. Washington Monthly measured which schools take part (and to what degree) in the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) at Tufts University, which calculates registration numbers and turnout rates for participating campuses; participation in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, which helps schools craft plans to bolster civic engagement.

“Because voting tends to be habitual— if you vote in this election, you’re far more likely to vote in the next one, and the ones after that,” Washington Monthly writes. “Colleges and universities have an opportunity to boost democratic participation not only in 2020 but for years, or even decades, to come.”